Matt Lauer is finally ready to apologize -- to a former intern. The much-maligned "Today" show host made a public apology toward Mark Zinni, who interned at the show back in 1997, via Twitter on Tuesday.

"I was an intern there in '97, his first year on the job…how do I say this…? He was… not nice," Zinni tweeted at a friend earlier that day.

Several of the journalist's online friends and followers jumped at the reference to Lauer, asking Zinni to clarify his statement.

One of Mark Zinni's followers, Darren Sweeney, quoted Mark on Twitter: "'I was just a young kid with a bright future ahead of me,' @markzinni talking about internship at @todayshow and 'not so nice' @Mlauer." Mark retweeted this, and the direct mention on his Twitter feed caught Lauer's attention. The 55-year-old talk show co-host later took it upon himself to respond to the claims personally.

Zinni, who is currently a Cleveland-based anchor and reporter, addressed the resulting media attention in a post to the Fox 8 website on Thursday, March 28.

"If you know me, you probably know that I don't take myself too seriously," he wrote, adding that he had "an amazing internship" at the "Today' show back in 1997. "So, my answer was more of a joke about being young and naive during my time at 'Today,' but I added that he wasn't nice to me."

"I didn't slam the guy, I just made an honest comment," he continued. "Bottom line, I was shocked Matt Lauer even bothered with me and, really, he remembers me? I'm flattered."

Zinni's comments about Lauer are just the latest in a series that have painted the veteran TV journalist in a less than flattering light. Earlier this week, Lauer made headlines after a New York magazine story revealed the true behind-the-scenes drama at the "Today" show surrounding Ann Curry's departure -- with Lauer seemingly in the middle of it all.

"Everybody at NBC, everybody at the 'Today' show, everybody understood that Ann was kicked out of her position because Matt didn't want her there," a prominent NBC staffer told New York writer Joe Hagan. "That's why it was so personal between Ann and Matt."